You are really left in the Dark when you petition as to what the status is when you /petition. Also I often get no response at all and am left wondering if anyone ever received it.
Some changes I suggest
1) have a note saying what numeric position you are in when you enter the petition. Obviously if I have some small problem I will not worry about a large queue waiting. Which leads to my next suggestion.
2) have the ability to remove the petition. I have had several brain farts and found out what I was having trouble with was my own stupidity. Then the ARK shows up and asks how they can help. DOH!
3) the ability to check your petition status. I realize that there may be a priority given to some issue or problem. But it would be nice to see that your petition is being moved closer to being answered. If it's getting late and your still 50 out in the petiton queue then remove it (or leave it and go to bed).
4) In cases where multiple petitions for the same thing are entered by multiple people an attempt should be made to notify the player that this is a known issue. Then move on. I have spent 3 hours waiting to find out that the problem I was experiencing was known issue and had already been reported by multiple people. I really didn't need to take up their time with a known issue, when what I was interested in was making sure the issue was known.(some of this should make it to this site but I don't read the boards and play)
5) spam petitioners should be warned if they petition too often or for invalid reasons. There are people who repeatedly petition for whatever reason and they should not take up all the time or the GM's and ARKs.